Ask questions of Pinellas board candidates

Is there a question you want to ask the candidates running for the Pinellas County School Board? Hear’s your chance.

The Tampa Bay Times is rounding up questions for a July 26 candidates forum at Osceola Fundamental High School. The event is being organized by the Pinellas Education Foundation and the Pinellas County Council of PTAs. Co-sponsors include the Tampa Bay Times.

Submit questions on Gradebook or email Times education reporter Cara Fitzpatrick at cfitzpatrick@tampabay.com. Please indicate if you are a parent, teacher, student, business leader, etc. The deadline is July 16. The forum will start at 6:30 p.m.; doors open at 6 at Osceola Fundamental, 9751 98th St. Largo.

There are four posts available. Those winning for lack of competition are incumbents Robin Wikle (District 4) and Carol Cook (District 5). Here’s how the other two races shape up:

District 1 (at-large): Incumbent Janet R. Clark faces Jim Jackson, a retired university professor who ran unsuccessfully for District 7 in 2010; Shelly Ladd-Gilbert, owner of Ivy Prep Learning Center in Clearwater; and Elliott Stern, a retired Raymond James executive and a former Pinellas Education Foundation board member.

District 7: Five are vying for the seat left open by the death of Lew Williams and currently held by Glenton Gilzean Jr., a Gov. Rick Scott appointee and former state Department of Education staffer. Those facing Gilzean include Keisha Bell, who lost in a three-way race for the board in 2010; former St. Petersburg City Council member Rene Flowers; Corey Givens Jr., a 20-year-old University of South Florida student; and Cassandra Jackson, 52, a paraprofessional at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental Middle.

About the blog

Gradebook features education articles and insights on schools in Florida, focusing on Tampa Bay area schools. What's the latest from the Florida Department of Education? How is the FCAT being used to compare Florida schools? What's going on in Tampa Bay schools? Get an insider's view from the Times education reporting team.